T.J. Maxx to open in Borders’ spot

National off-price retailer T.J. Maxx will open a store in Grand Junction this year, filling the void left by Borders when the bookstore vacated its anchor site at the Grand Mesa Center in April last year.

T.J. Maxx real estate spokeswoman Carrie Garfield confirmed the clothing, accessories and home-fashions retailer signed a lease in Grand Junction and plans to open the store this year, probably in the fall. She declined to provide information about the location.

However, the Grand Junction Public Works and Planning Department said T.J. Maxx is awaiting approval of a site plan that would allow it to expand the 20,600-square-foot space previously occupied by Borders, 2464 U.S. Highway 6&50. The plan calls for another 3,567 square feet on the side of the building facing U.S. 6&50.

The expansion would bring the store in line with the size T.J. Maxx targets in markets similar to Grand Junction. The TJX Companies Inc., parent company of T.J. Maxx, opened T.J. Maxx stores in Greeley and Durango in March. Those stores are 25,000 and 24,000 square feet, respectively, Garfield said.

The TJX Companies plans to open approximately 50 T.J. Maxx stores this year, Garfield said, which would give it about 1,000 nationwide.

Grand Junction’s T.J. Maxx store, with its planned expansion, will be the fourth-largest retailer in terms of floor space in the Grand Mesa Center, according to THF Realty, which owns the shopping center. THF Realty’s website lists Sportsman’s Warehouse as the largest tenant at 45,250 square feet, followed by Ross Dress for Less at 30,161 square feet and Bed, Bath & Beyond at 24,864.

According to T.J. Maxx’s website, the vast majority of its merchandise is name-brand goods and designer fashions purchased from name-brand vendors and sold at prices 20 percent to 60 percent off regular prices at department and specialty stores.

Its targeted customer, according to The TJX Companies website, is “a middle- to upper-middle-income shopper who is fashion and value conscious and fits the same profile as a department or specialty store shopper.”

The TJX Companies, which also owns Marshalls and HomeGoods stores among its holdings, calls itself “the leading off-price retailer of apparel and home fashions in the U.S. and worldwide, ranking 119 in the most recent Fortune 500 listings.” It listed its 2010 revenues at $22 billion and claims to have more than 2,800 stores in six countries.